Giannettino reaches new heights

Friday

DES MOINES - Jeff Giannettino already has proven himself to be one of the premier high jumpers in the state, having won Drake Relays and state championships this spring.

Now, the Notre Dame High School junior-to-be will get a chance to test himself on a national level.

Giannettino will compete in the USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships today at Drake Stadium. The junior men's high jump competition is set to get under way at 6:20 p.m. The top two finishers will advance to represent the United States in the Pan Am Junior Athletics Championships Aug. 23-25 in Medellin, Colombia.

The Junior portion is for athletes between the ages of 16-19. The meet will run in conjunction with the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, where the top three athletes in each event will qualify for the World Championships in August in Russia.

For Giannettino, it is the opportunity of a lifetime.

"It's just going to be a great experience. I'm just excited to be a part of it and get a chance to see all these other jumpers. There's going to be some world class people. I'm really looking forward to being there and being a part of everything," said Giannettino, who cleared a personal-best 6 feet, 10 inches this season to qualify. "I just want to go up there and do the best I can and enjoy the whole experience. I want to keep in mind for next year, too, so I can maybe be more prepared for it."

"I looked at some of the lineups and it's the first time we're going to see the likes of the University of Oregon and the University of Alabama in the same field as Jeff. That will be a different lineup than we see at conference and districts," West Burlington-Notre Dame high school boys track coach Corey Lamm said. "That hasn't been done a whole lot in the area, qualifying for the National Track and Field Championships. It's quite an opportunity to go up there and check this out."

Giannettino, who stands 6-4, burst onto the high jump scene as a freshman, placing 13th in Class 2A at the state meet at 6 feet.

Giannettino, with plenty of help and encouragement from Lamm, improved by leaps and bounds this season. He won the Drake Relays championship by clearing 6-8. He set a personal best to win a Class 2A district meet at Eddyville-Blakesburg, jumping 6-10. He won the Class 2A state championship with a leap of 6-9.

Giannettino, though, has not high jumped since the state meet, deciding late last week to enter the USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships and being accepted late Monday afternoon.

He is hoping his previous experiences at Drake Stadium will give him an edge.

"I kind of have to get back into the rhythm of things. I'm not really in practice right now, but we're working on that. Hopefully I can get back into the rhythm before we head up there on Friday," Giannettino said. "I'm really familiar with the stadium now. I love jumping up there. That will help a little bit, I'm sure. It's a nice big mat and runway and everything. It's nice to jump on."

"We didn't set any personal goals as far as heights or anything. For Jeff, this is going to be an experience for better things in the future. We'll go up there and get the experience. We haven't practiced for a month. This is something brand new. We haven't set any goals as far as going up and hitting a certain height or anything. We're going to have some fun and enjoy the competition," Lamm said.

Giannettino will be competing on a much-higher level today. He is the only high school athlete in the field of 15 jumpers. The field includes Minnesota freshman Wally Ellenson, who finished eighth in the NCAA Outdoor Championships three weeks ago in Eugene, Ore., clearing 7-2.

Giannettino is hoping it will be an experience he can learn from and build on for the next two years.

"It will be some really good experience for next year, maybe learn some things from them or see what maybe they do and do some different things. It will be a really good learning experience watching them," Giannettino said. "It will be awesome. It will hopefully give Mr. Lamm some recognition here because he is such a huge part of this. I would be nowhere without him. This will be big for this school and the program."

"This is a very unique setting. You don't see this happen in other sports, like football or basketball. You don't have guys go against LeBron James or something like that. So it's very unique," Lamm said.

And while Giannettino is competing in the high jump, former Olympic gold medalist Justin Gatlin and American record-holder Tyson Gay will be competing in the semifinals and finals of the men's 100-meter dash. Gatlin beat Olympic gold medalist and world record-holder Usain Bolt two weeks ago in Rome.

"That's incredible. Hopefully I can catch a glimpse of some of those other races. That's going to be awesome. I've always wanted to watch them run," Giannettino said.

"They're going to be on the same field in the same stadium with the best in the world. It will be neat to see that. It will be great for Jeff to be out there with those guys," Lamm said.

For Giannettino, it is a chance to compete against some of the best high jumpers in the country. It is also a unique opportunity to get his name to the forefront and take the WB-ND program to another level.

"The college coaches will be there and they will be looking around and they will realize he's a sophomore. That will raise some eyebrows because he'll be the only sophomore out there, I'm sure," Lamm said.

"I just want to go up and have fun and do the best that I can and see what happens," Giannettino said. "Hopefully I can go up there and show them what I've got and prove that I can do this."

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